Franklin Street Journal

Apr 13, 2005

I took an afternoon break from work today, and went for a stroll up Franklin Street. On my way past Starbuck’s, I glanced in the window and saw a man reading the Wall Street Journal. ‘Hmm,’ I thought. ‘I should by the Journal to see what science and health stories it has today.” On my way back to the office, I detoured to the row of news boxes, dropped in my four quarters, and took a copy of the Journal.

On the front page is a story about Starbuck’s and the company’s lobbyist and how the company needs Washington’s help but isn’t used to what lobbying means to the corporate image. Also on the front page is a fascinating story about Turkish tailors being brought to Knoxville, Tennessee. It ends with this killer quote,

“It’s hard to leave home,” says Aydin Olcum, 36, one of the company’s Turkish master tailors. “But now the world has changed. You’re not supposed to live where you’re born. You’re supposed to live where you can feed your family.”

And yet another interesting front page story is about Plumpy’nut, a peanut-based food meant to save famine victims.

Plumpy’nut is the serendipitous result of one man’s breakfast-time revelation, which came after years of research by nutritionists. Made by a French company in the Normandy countryside, Plumpy’nut has been fed to some 30,000 children in Sudan’s Darfur region and aid officials there say it has helped cut malnutrition rates in half.

I just might start buying the Wall Street Journal more often. That and being open to serendipity on my afternoon walks.